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Major roads slated for repairs

Jennifer Eberbach
Published 3:42 p.m. ET April 30, 2015

Get ready to see orange. The Livingston County Road Commission approved three road projects that are slated to happen during this construction season. All three of the roads are classified as major arterial roadways that carry a lot of traffic.(Photo11: Getty Images)

The Livingston County Road Commission approved three road projects that are slated to happen during this construction season. All three of the roads are classified as major arterial roadways that carry a lot of traffic.

Roads that will be fixed include a stretch of D-19 in Marion Township, from 1,600 feet south of Wright Road north to the Howell city limits; West Grand River Avenue in Handy Township, from Wallace Road to Nicholson Road; and Whitmore Lake Road in Green Oak Township, from 8 Mile Road to Winans Lake Road.

When asked how the road commission prioritizes roads, Michael Craine, the managing director of the Livingston County Road Commission indicated that they “don’t always pick the worst roads first.”

“A really bad road doesn’t get much worse, but a good road on its way to bad is what you want to save first,” Craine said. “What we try to do on major routes is to catch them before they are bad. It’s a lot cheaper to fix them before the cracks become caverns, or you’ve waited too long.”

Craine noted that D-19 is a priority because “it is a major arterial route and major commercial route that leads directly to the I-96 freeway interchange.” D-19 will undergo “two minor widenings,” he said.

“Of the three roads, D-19 is the one with the most traffic. It averages about 14,000 vehicles a day, and up at the freeway it is closer to 20,000 a day,” Craine said.

“We’ll have to close the I-96 westbound ramp for a couple of weeks. We’re going to dig it all out and straighten it out more. Right now, there is no real designated turn lane there. You don’t have a place to go around people. We have enough room to at least create a short left-turn lane to point about 50 feet south of the Park and Ride lot,” Craine said of some of the work slated for D-19.

In all, the D-19 repairs will cost an estimated $1.5 million. Of that, $750,000 is coming from the state. The county will cover the remaining $550,000 gap left after the state and township contributions.

Craine anticipates the D-19 work will begin in early June and result in a 15-day closure of the road and the Interstate 96 ramp. He warned motorists to prepare for “a long detour.” Some people will have to bypass the construction by taking Burkhart or Latson roads.

In order to repair a stretch of West Grand River Avenue in Handy Township, “we are going to remove the existing asphalt pavement, which is sitting on old concrete. Over time, the joints get funky,” Craine said.

He said that road “carries about 6,000 vehicles a day, and a lot of it is commercial traffic — trucks that are traveling inter-county at that point.”

The plan is to repair faulted joints, either replace of reline some drainage culverts and then resurface the road with 6 inches of new asphalt. Expect to see flaggers out directing traffic beginning sometime in early August.

The fix to West Grand River will cost an estimated $1.6 million, with 80 percent in federal money and 20 percent in county money.

Work on Whitmore Lake Road will be more extensive and expensive. The cost is estimated at $3.5 million, split 50-50 between federal and county funds. Work will likely begin in early August.

Craine said the road gets about 6,000 cars a day, and “there are times it is bumper to bumper.”

“We’ll be removing existing pavement. Then we’re going to take one more step, which is to remove the base of the road. We’re going to be digging down further,” Craine explained. “Roads aren’t like sandwiches, sometimes you cannot just fix the bread.”

The stretch of road will be surfaced with “modern geosynthetics, basically highly engineered plastic shapes that we roll out like a carpet. We use it in combination with construction aggregates, stone and sand,” he said.

The Livingston County Road Commission will issue more detailed information and periodic advisories to keep residents informed of upcoming roadwork and road closures.

Contact Livingston Daily county and townships reporter Jennifer Eberbach at 517-548-7148 or at jeberbach@livingstondaily.com. Follow her on Twitter @JenTheWriter.